Battered and Broken, Healing but Hurting
by luvindrewfuller
Summary: SEQUEL TO: PIPER: FALLING FROM GRACE - After Piper's attitude towards Chris was revealed she and Leo split up. Nobody knows where she went and they're all too concerned with helping Leo start a new life with his sons to care but healing is a slow process.
1. Chapter 1

_So...the eagerly (I hope) anticipated sequel to Piper: Falling From Grace..._

_I know this is probably later then I originally said but I rather stupidly started the sequel to Missing as well so I've got 4 fics all in the early stages of writing...although I'm hoping Interesting will be a fairly short fic..._

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Leo put the last box into the van and slammed the door shut. They'd finally sold the Manor, not that they'd been living there anyway, but all of them felt considerably better now that they didn't have to have anything to do with the place. Darryl was dealing with the selling of the club for them, Leo privately thought that Darryl was more interested in the alcohol stocks than selling the place but kept his thoughts to himself. At least Darryl was helping them, most of the family friends had sided with Piper after the split, Leo couldn't truthfully say he cared though; most of them had been Piper's friends to begin with anyway.

Chris and Wyatt were already in the front of the van, the last Leo had seen Chris had fallen asleep on Wyatt's shoulder hugging the little blanket he'd been in the cellar with. He hadn't let go of it yet, apart from when he was asleep and Phoebe had stolen it for an hour to get it washed. It was actually quite a nice blanket now it was washed, a pretty yellow fleecy thing with a small blue triquetra in the corner. He wasn't quite sure where it had come from, but that was a question for another day.

He climbed into the front of the van next to his sons noting that Wyatt had fallen asleep as well, and revved up the engine, Wyatt opened his eyes slightly and gave his father a tired smile before resting his head on top of his brother's and going back to sleep. Leo didn't blame him, they'd been up since 6am finishing off the packing and it was nearly half 9 now. Not to mention that the past few nights had been sleepless for the trio, Chris had been waking up with nightmares every hour on the hour for the past two weeks until Leo finally resorted to letting Chris sleep with him, and naturally Wyatt didn't want to be left out, if Chris got to sleep with his Daddy then Wyatt did too.

They weren't moving out of the city, just onto a street practically on top of Golden Gate Park. Maybe if Chris ever detached himself from his blanket they'd be able to go play catch sometime, that was a big if though. There was also the factor of whether Chris would dare catch a flying object; he'd flinched at a high five.

There was also the issue of demons, he was mortal and it wouldn't be fair to make Wyatt do all the fighting. The power of three didn't really exist anymore, Phoebe and Paige had refused to talk to Piper since they found out and neither of them even knew where Piper had gone. They weren't overly inclined to ask either. So far the solution was just to stock up on potions and hope that it took the Underworld a while to catch on to the splitting up of the Power of Three.

Thanking God that Chris hadn't woken up screaming while they were driving Leo picked the still sleeping boy up and put him on one hip and held the sleepy Wyatt's hand as they made their way inside. Unpacking could wait until morning, Phoebe had already been over and set up beds for them while the boys and Leo were packing. Right now sleep was looking like a really good idea. As was having his own bed. Whether that bed would belong to only him that night however remained to be seen.

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Leo woke up half an hour later screaming, it took a moment for that realisation to sink in, _he _was screaming _not _Chris. Had that been happening the whole time? Or had Chris always woken him up before he started screaming himself? He shook it off and went back to sleep, there was no point him worrying over something that happened once, even if it was a nightmare that had woken him up screaming and the last time that had happened he'd only been 10...

The next morning the night was a distant memory for Leo and the next day he got up as if nothing had happened. Chris and Wyatt didn't notice anything, or if they did neither of them commented. Leo wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not, he didn't want them to not want to argue with him but at least it meant he could pretend nothing had happened. He had no idea how single parent families worked, he'd always had both his parents around and even when he wasn't around Piper was the one who, in the loosest sense of the word, looked after the boys, he was in uncharted territory here and had no idea what to do. He was pretty good at being the dad who played and all that, but being the mom as well? Maybe he should get Phoebe or Paige over for a bit...

Leo busied himself with unpacking, Chris practically clinging to him and still clutching his blanket and Wyatt quite happily wreaking havoc with bubble wrap and tissue paper. Leo was currently spending more time clearing up after his oldest then actually unpacking. Not that unpacking was exactly easy with Chris clinging to him, but then neither was the constant tidying that had to go on because of Wyatt's so called helping. And it was said boy's birthday the next day, Leo was more hoping that Piper wouldn't try anything more than arranging anything – Phoebe and Paige were dealing with all of that. As stated, Leo was more bothered about keeping Piper away than anything else.

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_Crappy start but it should get somewhere within a couple of chapters so pretty please stick with it! _

_Ldf x_


	2. Chapter 2

_For those of you that have stuck with me I thank you! Especially because of the stupidly long wait between the two!_

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Wyatt's birthday. More specifically Wyatt's birthday party. And for Leo currently hell. Chris was absolutely terrified and kept trying to leave like Leo presumed he had to in the past, three times now Leo had had to retrieve him from the sidewalk where he'd been sat shivering. Apparently Chris didn't own a jacket; or anything thicker than a t-shirt. That problem had now been rectified by Phoebe – unfortunately Chris didn't appear to think he deserved them so wouldn't wear them.

Wyatt was having the time of his life, all his friends had come round like normal and Leo had somehow managed to cobble together a homemade cake like Piper had last year – though not quite as impressive. At least Wyatt had some tact – so far he hadn't mentioned any difference or bragged or anything. A fact that Leo was extremely thankful for, Chris was jumpy enough as it was. For the umpteenth time Leo cursed Piper to hell.

"Daddy?"

Leo looked down and saw Chris pulling on his jacket. He smiled and knelt down.

"Yeah buddy?"

Chris looked at the ground shyly, avoiding his father's gaze.

"Can I have some cake please?"

Chris' voice was so hopeful and when Leo tilted Chris' chin up the boy's eyes were almost daring to look happy.

"Sure you can, why don't you go tell Wyatt it's time for cake?"

Chris nodded, eyes shining with pure joy and ran off, leaving Leo, who had been just about to ruffle his son's hair with his hand, stood there with his hand rubbing thin air and, if Phoebe's giggles were anything to go by, looking rather daft doing so. Leo stuck his tongue out at her in a gesture very reminiscent of the 10 year old whose birthday it was, and headed to the kitchen to find a knife. He was gonna get this cake thing right – well maybe this time could be a practise run and he could do it really well when Chris' 9th rolled round. Thinking about it that was likely to be Chris' first real party, looking back Chris' parties always did seem to be less of a big deal than Wyatt's, he hadn't even had one last year. Piper had claimed he was sick and never gotten round to rescheduling.

That had happened a lot actually come to think of it. Chris' school plays, his birthdays, play dates. It was the reason he never played sports, he could never play in the matches – he was always 'ill' whenever they came round. And when Wyatt had anything special on, he'd be left at home those times – Piper apparently called someone, Darryl generally – or Billie sometimes, although currently Leo was wondering whether she actually had or whether Chris had just been locked in the basement.

"Hey Dad! You got a knife yet? We're getting hungry over here!" Wyatt shouted. "We want cake!"

Leo laughed, well Wyatt hadn't changed any had he?

"I'm coming! Is everyone there? Is _Chris _there?"

"Ummmm, yeah he's here – will you come through now?"

Leo walked through the door and saw Chris, on the edge of the group, with eyes shining with pure joy and a smile that almost split his face in half. Was this seriously the first time Chris had been allowed to take part in Wyatt's birthday celebrations? From the way he was acting it seemed so anyway. He put the knife in Wyatt's hands with a dire warning not to mess about with it and went and grabbed Chris. He pretty much pulled Chris to stand next to Wyatt then stood behind his sons, his hands on Wyatt's to make sure he didn't mess about with the knife – it wasn't that he didn't trust his son, more that he wasn't entirely sure he wanted Wyatt with a knife in a room full of kids – especially when said child was one of the most powerful magical beings ever. Leo mentally slapped himself – he had to stop obsessing over the damn Halliwell legacy, Chris didn't exactly need to be reminded of his mother every 5 minutes.

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Half an hour later and all the kids had left, Chris had relaxed – slightly. He was currently curled up on the sofa clinging to Leo while Wyatt sat happily on the floor making a mess with wrapping paper – Leo had decided clearing up could wait. Maybe he could tempt Chris down to play with his brother, he needed to get over this I'm not good enough for Wyatt and I can't beat him and I can't outshine him deal. Well theoretically he could go down and play with his brother, in practice he'd probably have to physically move Chris' arms to make him play. He'd managed pretty well throughout the party but Leo was seriously wondering whether it had been an emotional overload on the 8 year old.

"Dad?"

Leo's head jerked up.

"Yeah Wyatt?"

"Can we have some more cake now?"

Leo smirked – typical Wyatt. Always wanting food, well always wanting sweet food anyway. He wasn't exactly a fan of anything remotely healthy – you know, fruit, vegetables, stuff without additives and colourings. A born teenager. Leo shook his head laughing then nodded in answer to Wyatt's question. The blonde haired boy leapt up with a yell of delight and ran through to the kitchen, coming back with what looked like half a cake each.

"Think you got enough there Wyatt?"

Wyatt looked like he was actually debating the question and Leo quickly added that it was a joke before the boy went and got anymore. He was gonna be sick tonight with the amount he had there anyway.

"But Dad...."

"No Wyatt."

Wyatt pouted and ran upstairs, Chris looked like he was about to follow then renuzzled himself into Leo's shirt. Leo smiled – well at least he was happy now.

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_Yes I know, stupidly long wait, but HPV jab is a killer (so is school come to think of it) and I managed to get like all the side effects from it ): And these chapters are going to be shorter than Falling From Grace because this is a lot harder to write so..._

_Anyways hope you enjoyed and please review!_

_Ldf x_


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you so much guys! Anyways...on with the show! I know it's taking me forever to get these out but I want to make them good and it's still early on so I'm working out issues with the plot which isn't helping with the speed of things...neither is having to deal with crap in the form of my best friend...but regardless of all that (and I'll stop making excuses now even if they are true, I just feel bad about leaving it so long)..._

_Enjoy the chapter!_

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Leo ran a hand through his already unruly hair and called Wyatt again. Chris was already down and dressed. He'd tried to leave really early and be out the house but Leo had caught him and brought him back inside. The kid had tried to leave without a jacket or lunch. If Piper showed up again she was gonna be in some serious shit with everyone. Wyatt on the other hand was still lying in bed apparently not wanting to go to school. Leo was almost constantly tempted to keep them off, but that wasn't gonna do any good in the long run and he was desperate to get his three person family back to some semblance of normal.

"Wyatt! I mean it, get downstairs now Chris is waiting and if you're not down here," Leo paused, attempting to search for a punishment that wouldn't scare Chris, "if you're not down in 5 seconds Chris gets to choose everything all night," he winked at his youngest, "5, 4, 3," the house was filled with the sound of thundering feet, "2, 1 oh look Chris gets to choose tonight."

"No! Wait! I'm here! No!" Wyatt burst into the room red faced and his tee on back to front. "I'm here!"

"Sorry Wyatt but Chris is picking tonight – you're just gonna have to deal."

Chris had an almost smile on his face, was he allowed to think it was funny? Mom had always said he couldn't, but Daddy said that it didn't matter if he did, that it was just part of life. So should he smile? Was he allowed to? Would Wyatt be angry? He didn't like it when Wyatt got angry, cos it was always his fault and he always got punished. He didn't like getting punished, even though he deserved it. Maybe he should smile a little bit, then if it looked like he was gonna get in trouble he could stop.

"So, what do you fancy for dinner tonight Chris? I'll go pick something up while you're at school." Leo was sorting out his oldest son's shirt as he spoke, Wyatt didn't seem to have noticed it was on back to front, and was seriously hoping for an answer that wasn't Wyatt's favourite again.

"Curry?"

Leo almost cheered, Wyatt didn't even really like curry! Chris looked immensely unsure about his choice but spied the approval on his dad's face and smiled. He'd done it right! His daddy was happy, he wasn't in trouble.

"Come on guys, I don't wanna get shouted at again if you're late to school."

Wyatt laughed, the two of them had been late to school a couple of days ago and the teacher had made a big show of telling Leo off and treating him like one of her pupils. Chris had hidden behind his daddy but had been smiling anyway, not many people had ever told his daddy off. He hadn't outright laughed, he didn't want his daddy to be cross with him, but it was funny.

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True to his word Leo let Chris decide on everything they did that night. They ordered a curry in, Phoebe and Paige came round at Chris' request, but not the kids. For an 8 year old the kid seemed to be surprisingly mature, he claimed he didn't want them round because he didn't like it now they knew what happened and didn't want them to treat him any differently. He knew he'd have to make Chris see his cousins again soon but he didn't want to force it on him too soon. It was a big enough step that he'd let his Aunts come round by choice. They were _her _sisters after all.

That night when Leo put Chris to bed the young boy whispered something that brought tears to the older man's eyes but it wasn't until he was safe in his own room that Leo broke down and cried. Eventually he drifted off to sleep, still in his clothes and his eyes red and puffy from the tears, but even as he dreamed he couldn't escape those words.

'Why are you being like this Daddy? I'm not worth it.'

And as he slept Leo made a promise to himself and his son that he would change that boy's mind – and make him every bit as cocky as his older brother, okay, maybe not quite as cocky, one Wyatt was enough for this world. Two would just be a nightmare. But something was niggling in the back of Leo's mind, what if by Chris stopping Wyatt becoming evil, lead to Chris becoming the evil one himself? Life was certainly cruel enough to do just that – turn it's saviour towards the thing he'd worked so hard to stop.

Half an hour later Leo woke, once again brought back to the world of the living by his own screams as his subconscious mused over those particular facts. He hated himself for thinking it – but he wanted his wife back. He felt something move in his bed and looked down to see Wyatt, the small blonde boy looking up at his Daddy with concern. He kissed the boy's forehead and laid back down to go to sleep. He didn't need Piper, he had his boys and they were all that mattered.

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_Short, but it moved us on a bit...well kinda, see my profile for the full explanation of why EVERYTHING I'm writing has been taking so long._

_Ldf x_


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